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Arsenal Academy

The Arsenal Academy is now in its 11th season, having been one
of the first tier of English clubs to gain academy status in
1998.

During its existence the Academy has consistently produced
footballers ready for first-team action with both Arsenal and other
professional football clubs.

The Academy Director is legendary midfielder Liam Brady, who is
ably assisted by David Court, also a former Gunners star. Both are
responsible for the development of all the boys registered with the
Academy between the ages of nine and 21.

At the end of season 2003/04, the Under-17s and Under-19s were
disbanded by the FA to form one competitive level for Club
Academies, the Under-18s. The Arsenal Under-18s are based at the
Training Centre with the first-team squad and are coached by former
Arsenal centre-half Steve Bould.

The junior levels of the Academy set-up - from Under-16s
down to Under-nines - are based at Hale End Training Centre,
another state-of-the-art Arsenal facility, under the guidance of
Roy Massey.

The Under-18s finished in the top half of the table last season,
a worthy achievement when you consider that Bould regularly fields
very young teams in order to rest those older, eligible players who
may have been playing reserve or first-team football.

Results are certainly not the 'be all and end all' for
the Under-18s with the Club's primary concern at this age being
player development. The most prominent example of a player
progressing through the current system is Ashley Cole, who
established himself as first choice left-back for both club and
country before his move to Chelsea.

A number of former Academy youngsters have made their mark in
the Carling Cup, taking Arsenal to three successive Semi-Finals and
a Final appearance in 2007.

With Academy players regularly dominating the Arsenal reserve
team line-ups and a steady progression of players being blooded in
the senior side, the Academy production line looks set to continue
and produce players to grace Emirates Stadium for many years to
come.

Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source10 Mar 2008

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